The Astronauts Who Were Stranded in Space Back in June are Finally Home

Joe Raedle. Getty Images.

In the most literal sense, what a long, strange trip it's been for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. An adventure into low Earth orbit for eight days to run a few experiments, see some sights, and have stories to make themselves the coolest ones at their grandkids' schools on Career Day, quickly turned into a misadventure. Through no fault of their own.

In June, these intrepid souls risked their lives by strapping themselves into a 10-story, highly flammable phallic symbol built by the same aerospace company that can't keep a door on an airliner:

And predictably, it went pear shaped when the return vehicle lost five thrusters and leaked helium. Making it a less attractive option than:

1. Waiting 10 months for reliable transportation. Or

2. Jumping like Sandra Bullock in Gravity and hoping for the best. 

So that eight day trip (asks AI to do the math) lasted 285 days. Ending today. Ending just now:

Of course this all happened in 2024-25, a time in history in which we've decided that everything has to be ruined by politics. Including the rescue of heroic Americans from the unforgiving vacuum of space. And this was no exception. Because the CEO of SpaceX who brought them home is working for this White House, it's been suggested that the last White House didn't want to let him get them down and give a W in the middle of an election year. 

But this is not about that. It's about the astronauts and the army of brilliant science nerds who built the tech that brought them back to Terra Firma. From launch:

To docking:

To first contact:

To departure:

To Butch knowing exactly who deserves all the thanks:

To splashdown. And just in case it wasn't already dramatic enough, with the astronauts being welcomed by fricking dolphins:

Today is a day for all of humanity to celebrate. We have our faults. But we are still truly an amazing species capable of miraculous things. Godspeed to all involved.